Cullman County Democrats got some face time Thursday with the person who may turn out to be their party’s next gubernatorial candidate.

Former state Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb addressed an audience of local Democrats and their guests Thursday evening at the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce.

Cobb, the state’s first female chief justice, has been on a recent speech-making junket throughout Alabama, with watchers speculating she may be laying the groundwork for a run at the Democratic gubernatorial nomination next year.

She joked Thursday that her longtime connections to the Cullman area have given a boost to her political career.

“I’ve got a lot of kinfolks, by marriage, up here in Cullman,” she said. “People ask me: ‘How does a South Alabama girl become successful in politics?’ Well, she moves up to Cullman and marries a Cullman boy!”

Cobb acknowledged, though, that Alabama Democrats have an uphill climb before gaining any ground on the Republican Party, even in the wake of the recent ethics scandal that led to criminal charges against, and the resignation of, the state’s GOP governor.

“I’ll tell you for sure: I’m not ready to give up on Alabama. We have wonderful absolutely amazing people here,” she said.

“What I’m convinced of is that we need elected officials to speak truth. We need elected officials to truly care more about the people of Alabama than they do themselves. And I want to thank y’all, because these have been lean times for Democrats.”

A graduate of the University of Alabama with degrees in History and Law, Cobb served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2007 to 2011. Before that, she held a long career in the court system, culminating before her Supreme Court service in a judgeship on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

Cobb defeated Republican incumbent Drayton Nabers, Jr. in the 2006 general election to earn her seat on the state’s highest court. She resigned from the position midway through 2011, citing the desire to spend time with family, as well as disillusionment with the politicization of the state’s judiciary.